The Nova Scotia Health Authority is now working on a plan for how to get back on track after a sterilization problem caused hundreds of surgeries to be postponed at the QEII Health Sciences Centre.
The last two weeks have seen more than 400 surgeries cancelled due to a black debris and staining found on surgical equipment — the source of which was a mystery until yesterday.
Health Minister Leo Glavine announced on Wednesday investigators had found corrosion in the hospital’s sterilization machines, which are between 20 and 25 years old.
New sterilizers are now being ordered.
“It will take probably all told a couple of months to get us fully operational with new machinery,” health authority CEO Janet Knox said on Thursday.
In the meantime, other hospitals are helping out by sterilizing the QEII’s equipment.
The hospital has seen an improvement: the QEII is now able to perform 75 per cent of daily scheduled surgeries, up from 25 per cent last week.
The health authority says 50 per cent of the surgeries postponed have been cataract surgeries.
So far no one has been transferred to other hospitals, but Knox said that’s one of the options on the table as the planning begins for how to catch up on postponed surgeries.
Meantime, opposition parties clamoring for details on the government’s plan.
“Knowing how many surgeries have been cancelled in two weeks, versus how many people are going to be cancelled within two months, is unacceptable, and they need to have a better plan,” said PC health critic Chris d’Entremont.
Interim NDP Leader Maureen MacDonald says questions need to be answered.
“At the best of times we have long waits, so it will be, you know, how are all of these surgeries going to be rescheduled, what's the plan for that, what's the cost of this?” MacDonald said.
Patient Darlene Worth went to the legislature on Thursday to hear the debate and get a little reassurance.
She said she left with a bit more confidence, but she won’t be satisfied until she gets a new date for her surgery.
Worth has been living with an enlarged hernia and a detached esophagus. Her surgery was cancelled a few days before it was scheduled to proceed.
She’s been waiting for surgery since last July, and has been told it could be a three- to six-month waitto re-schedule.
“Can I wait that long? No,” she said.
“I am in radiating pain from the back to the front. I'm not sleeping at night. The quality of life that I'm having is not good. I’m on a liquid diet 24-7.”
Worth said she has a clear picture of what she wants to hear from legislators and officials.
“To assure that it is going to be less than three months for all of us that have lost our surgery dates, to get us in and get this going.”
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Jacqueline Foster
